Tag: O’Fallon

This was one of our first flocks. Here I am with five of my children gazing at the day old chicks in our garage. Notice the heat lamp, the box they were shipped in, the feeder and the waterer filled with a special hydration blend with extra vitamins. You can learn so many lessons from chicks.

A few years ago, my daughter wanted to raise chickens, so she called our city hall and asked if that would be okay. The staff person told her O’Fallon didn’t have any laws against it, so we ordered our first flock.

It was a happy day when we got the call from the O’Fallon Post Office at 6:00 am telling us they had a box for us. We could hear the chicks peeping in the background. They were packed the day after they hatched and had been traveling for two days, so they were happy to find their new home.

The company ships them in lots of 25, so they can keep each other warm. We kept them in our heated garage for the first few weeks. When they got big enough to jump out of the incubator (swimming pool), they enjoyed walking around our garage. We bought the “special assorted bargain”, which means we didn’t find out what kind they were until their adult feathers came in around three to four weeks later. It was fascinating seeing all the different colors and physical features. Continue reading

You might think “What can be so interesting about chickens?” It’s not about chickens. This is a show where we talk about how municipalities operate and make decisions. Just like with parenting, any government has the ability to overpower it’s citizens. No one can dispute the power of the sword, especially when the government is bigger and stronger than the indivudual. But does might make right?

On this episode we interview Patrick Stovall, the gentleman who is organizing a petition drive to create a law allowing citizens to have chickens. We also hear from Cathryn Davis, an agronomist who comments on her own experience with chickens and her municipality.

Our own city provided us with several examples recently of how a governing body can suddenly shift from being friendly to being hostile toward freedom. Our liberties are always vulnerable, but so much more vulnerable when we have a governing body that has fallen into the “group think” syndrome. So on this show today, you will hear a lot about the chicken ordinance, but please listen to the real issue which is our ability to govern ourselves and how bigger government ideology insults the intelligence of the citizens.